Illinois starts fast in second half to down Iowa

A fast start to the second half by Illinois doomed the Iowa Hawkeyes on Sunday. The Illini made nine of their first 10 shots to opened the second half enroute to 62-54 victory. The Hawkeyes played well in the opening half and led it 25-22 at the half.

Iowa coach Todd Lickliter say they had turnovers 3 out of 5 times to start the second half and that gave up control of the game. The Hawkeyes visit an Indiana team on Wednesday night that is 0-8 in the Big Ten. Lickliter says Indiana has played tough and has to be hungry as they’ve played with a lot of enthusiasm. He says it was a challenge playing them at home, so it will be a challenge on the road.

Sophomore point guard Jeff Peterson had a solid effort. He finished with 12 points and six assists. Iowa appeared to run out of gas down the stretch. Peterson says guys got tired, but that shouldn’t have been an excuse as they were controlling parts of the game.

Peterson says the Hawks need to stay positive despite their 2-7 Big Ten record. He says they have to do that and almost have to practice staying positive, even though things have not gone the way they wanted. Peterson says they have a whole month of basketball left to play and have to stay positive and finish games. Iowa is 12-10 overall.